Box Score
Augustana's men's basketball team officially kicked off the 2008-09 season by holding its own in an 81-57 exhibition loss at Wisconsin Saturday night in Madison, Wis.
“The first thing I want to do is thank Bo Ryan," head coach
Tom Billeter said after the game. "You talk about a guy who remembers his roots and where he comes from and to give our guys a chance like this to come play in Madison. We don't get many opportunities to get treated the way we were here in Madison. And for our kids, this is a good experience for them.”
Despite falling victim to early foul troubles to post players
Eric Krogman and
Mike Klepatz, the Vikings still shot still shot 50 percent from the field, connecting on 23 of 46 field goals, including 7 of 16 3-point attempts.
Augustana, which was called for 24 fouls compared to 9 for Wisconsin, heard the whistle a lot in the opening minutes as Krogman was called for 2 fouls and Klepatz 3 in the first 2 minutes of the game.
Without its top inside players, the Vikings relied on the outside shooting of Wisconsin native
Marques Blank to stay in the game. Blank scored 9 of his 13 points in the first half.
Augustana trailed 13-7 with just under 14 minutes to play in the first half but the Vikings went on a 5-2 burst, capped by a 3-pointer by
Jordan Dalton, to make the score 15-12 with 12 minutes left in the half.
The Badger lead grew to 9 points, 25-16, with 8:34 left in the half. Blank answered with a basket to cut the deficit to 25-18. After that, Wisconsin closed out the half with a 14-6 run to take a 39-24 halftime lead.
The Badgers increased the lead over 20 points early in second half, but the Vikings refused to quit. Krogman's 3-pointer with 5:08 remaining left the score 72-54.
Nathan Truex, a redshirt freshman from Sioux Falls, had a stellar debut. Seeing extended minutes due to the foul troubles of the Viking big men, Truex led the Vikings in scoring with15 points on 6 of 8 shooting from the field. He also made 3 of 4 free throws and grabbed 4 rebounds. Krogman also had 4 rebounds and Dalton dished out a team-high 5 assists.
Marcus Landry led Wisconsin with 21 points. Jon Leuer and Jason Bohannon joined him in double figures with 15 and 12 points. Sioux Falls native Joe Krabbenhoft finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists.
Augustana plays its final exhibition game next Saturday, November 8, when the Vikings entertain Concordia College Moorhead in a 7 p.m. game at the Elmen Center.
